Furniture construction



Sept. 3, 1968 B. A. HEHN 3,399,926

v FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 27. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

BRUCE A. HEHN his ATTORNEYS p 1968 B. A. HEHN 3,399,926

FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 27, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

BRUCE A. HEHN hisATTORNEYS United States Patent Office 3,399,925 Patented Sept. 3, 1968 3,399,926 FURNITURE CONSTRUCTION Bruce A. Hehn, 110 Shepherd Terrace, St. Clairsville, Ohio 43950 Filed Dec. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 605,027 9 Claims. (Cl. 297-457 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This specification pertains to furniture construction in which seat and back portions of flexible material extend between portions of a relatively rigid frame structure. The frame structure, preferably tubular, has longitudinal indentations which receive enlarged portions in the ends of the flexible material. The flexible material is then wrapped around the periphery of the frame structure including the enlarged end portions to maintain the same in the indentations and hold the flexible material to the frame.

In recent years there have been substantial changes in furniture design with the advent of new materials, new styles in design and decorations and greater use of furniture out of doors. One type of design which has been adopted employs a tubular metal framework with flexible material extending between the frame sections to form the seat and/or back portions of the furniture. The use of such designs has been limited, however, notably because of difliculties in satisfactorily attaching the flexible material to the framework so that it can be readily attached and replaced when the flexible material becomes worn.

Conventional methods have usually involved the use of spring clips, securing plates, or other mechanical means such as riveting to secure the fabric to the frame. These modes of construction often require precision machining or extrusion work to insure proper attachment. Such conventional techniques involve the use of tools and the expenditure of considerable labor to accomplish assembly of the furniture and often prevent easy replacement of the flexible material from the frame to permit cleaning or replacement of worn parts.

The present invention is designed to avoid the foregoing problems and to eliminate the need for any friction or attaching device.

I provide a framework of ordinarily parallel tubular members having external longitudinal indentations in the outer sides thereof and held essentially rigidly apart. I further provide flexible upholstery material extending between the frame members.

I prefer to provide loops formed in the edges of the upholstery material which are to be secured to the frame members. The loops are designed to receive a rod which thereby provides means for enlarging the end of the material. Such enlargement can also be accomplished by forming a head in the ends of the material by suitable means.

I prefer to provide rods insertably disposed within the loops. I place the enlargements within the indentations in the framework and wrap the flexible material around the frame member at least a full turn whereby the wrap captures the enlarged portions and holds them within the indentations.

I further prefer to provide a plug insertably disposed within the ends of the tubular members, whereby excess upholstery material may be drawn into the ends of the tubular members and held securely therein.

Other details, objects and advantages of my invention will become more apparent as the following description of a present preferred embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings 1 have shown certain present preferred embodiments of the invention in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective fragmentary view of a chair seat and back embodying my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view, taken in section, of a frame member of the chair in FIGURE 1 and embodying my invention;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective fragmentary view of a chair seat or back illustrating an application of my invention;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective fragmentary view of a chair seat or back illustrating an alternate arrangement of up- 'holstery;

FIGURE 5 is an end view, taken in section, of a frame member and illustrating an alternate preferred embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 6 is a top view of the end of a strip of flexible material having an enlargement formed therein;

FIGURE '7 is a side view of the material shown in FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective fragmentary view illustrating a modification of the embodiment disclosed in FIG- URES 5, 6 and 7;

FIGURE 9 is a side view taken in section, of a loc P FIGURE 10 is an end view of FIGURE 9;

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of the plug shown in FIGURE 9 illustrating the gathering of excess upholstery material;

FIGURE 12 is a perspective view of the plug shown in FIGURE 9 in its locked position; and

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary top plan view of the end of a frame member.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the furniture construetion shown generally in FIGURE 1 comprises a chair seat 2 and a bracket 4. Parallel frame members 10 comprise the supporting framework for the upholstery material 14 to be attached thereto. Frame members 10 are normally disposed in separated relationship and resist movement together. Each frame member 10 has an indentation 12 in its outer side. The flexible upholstery material 14 has a loop 16 formed in the end thereof. The loop 16 can be formed by folding the edge of the upholstery material 14 backwardly toward the main body of the material 14 and stitching the two pieces together to form a hem as i1- lustrated generally at 18 in FIGURE 3. Alternatively, the loop 16 may be formed by using an upholstery material having heat-sealing characteristics such as plastic and applying suitable heat-sealing methods to the fold back 20. It should be noted that the flexible upholstery material 14 illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 comprises a fabric 22 lined with canvass 24 for strength and to resist stretching.

Rod 26, constructed of copper, aluminum, plastic or other light-weight material, is inserted into loop 16. FIGURE 3 shows rod 26 partially inserted into loop 16. Loop 16 is formed so that its inside diameter 28 is approximately equal to the diameter of rod 26. Rod 26 is preferably dimensioned so that its length is shorter than the length of the edge of flexible upholstery material 14. The length of indentation 12 is slightly longer than the longitudinal dimension of rod 26 so that rod 26 may be snugly received therein, but is also shorter than the length of the upholstery material 14, which embraces the rod 26.

Attachment of flexible upholstery material 14 to frame member 10 is accomplished by fitting rod 26 embraced by flexible upholstery material 14 into the indentation 12. Upholstery material 14 is then wound around frame member 10 in either direction desired, here illustrated in FIGURE 2 by the arrow at 30. Upholstery material 14 is wound around frame member 10 360 degrees so that it passes over rod 26 inserted into indentation 12 and approximately another degrees thereafter, a total of 450 degrees.

When tension is applied to flexible inelastic upholstery material 14 by the outward pull of the opposing frame members 10 in the direction shown by the arrow at 32, a force normal to the portion of flexible upholstery material 14 wound over rod 26 is applied to rod 26 in the direction illustrated by the arrow at 34. This force 34 causes rod 26 to more tightly engage in indentation 12 and thereby provide a firm attachment.

In FIGURE 4, I have shown a modification of my invention. Instead of a single indentation, a plurality of indentations 12 are formed in frame member 10. Strips 38 of flexible elastic upholstery material 14 are spaced laterally and secured to frame member 10 by substantially the same means described above, except that the last 90 degrees of wrapping the upholstery material 14 about the frame member 10 is accomplished by stretching the previously wrapped upholstery material 14 and pushing the end of strip 38 thereunder.

FIGURES 8 illustrate an alternate preferred embodiment of my invention. The end of flexible elastic upholstery material 14 to be secured to frame member 10, is folded backwardly to form a bead 40. The fold back, clearly illustrated by the broken line 42 in FIGURE 6, is secured by any suitable means but securement is preferably accomplished by heat-sealing techniques utilizing plastic or other fusible material as the flexible upholstery material 14.

The bead 40 is fitted into indentation 12 and the upholstery material 14 wound around frame member in similar fashion to that described above. If it is desired to use strips 38 of upholstery material, a plurality of indentations 12 may be formed in frame member 10 as shown in FIGURE 8. Indentation 12 is shown in FIGURE 5 to have a more gently inclined wall 44 than the opposite wall 46. The precise angular relationship between walls 44 and 46 is not critical and may be varied according to the shape of bead 40.

The advantage of forming a bead 40 in the edge f elastic flexible upholstery material 14 instead of utilizing a loop 16 and rod 26 arrangement is that construction of the former is simplified. However, it is not intended that the invention should be limited to these two modes of construction. Any suitable means of enlarging the end of flexible upholstery 14 so that the enlarged portion may be engaged in indentation 12 is intended to be encompassed by my invention.

The type of flexible upholstery material 14 to be used in furniture construction utilizing my invention may vary but generally inelastic material is used wtih compressible frame members 10 whereas elastic material is used with non-compressible frame member 10. These combinations act to keep the upholstery material 14 under constant tension, thereby ensuring the constant engagement of the enlarged end of upholstery material 14 with indentation 12.

FIGURES 9-13 illustrate the plug 48 which is inserted into the end 50 of tubular member 51. Excess upholstery material 54 is purposely left to extend beyond the ends of tubular member 51. The plug 48 is constructed with barbs 52 which engage excess upholstery material 54 as plug 48 is fully inserted into the end 50 of tubular member 51. Theplug 48 has a notch 49 to conform with the indentation 12 which is formed in tubular member 51 as hereinbefore described. As plug 48 is fully inserted into tubular member 51, the upholstery material 14 embracing said member 51 is drawn taut, thereby presenting a neat and attractive appearance. As shown in FIGURE 13, a dent 56 is punched in tubular member 51, before or after plug 48 is inserted to lock plug 48 securely within tubular member 51.

The cantilever action of the frame members 10 projecting from the seat and backrest junction creates a spring action when sat upon. The seat conforms to the body shape as the parallel frame members 10 move inward under the weight of the person seated. The chair is supported to the floor from the junction of the seat and backrest.

While I have illustrated and described certain present preferred embodiments of my invention, it is to be distinctly understood that the invention is not limited thereto but may be otherwise variously embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination for use in securing a flexible material to a rigid member comprising a rigid member having an external longitudinal indentation, a flexible material having an enlargement formed in the end of the flexible material to be secured, said enlarged end being disposed within the indentation of the member and the material being wrapped at least a full turn around the member so that the wrap captures the enlargement and holds it within the indentation.

2. A combination as recited in claim 1 wherein the enlargement formed in the end of the flexible material to be secured comprises a bead formed by folding the end of the flexible material upon itself and suitably securing it there- 3. A combination as recited in claim 1 wherein the enlargement formed in the end of the flexible material to be secured comprises a loop formed in the end of the flexible material and a rod dimensioned to be insertable into said loop.

4. An article of furniture comprising opposed frame members having external longitudinal indentations in the outer sides thereof, flexible upholstery material extending between said frame members and having enlargements formed in the ends of said material to be secured to said frame members, said enlarged ends being disposed within the indentations of the frame members and the material being wrapped at least a full turn around the members so that the wraps capture the enlargements and hold them within the indentations.

5. An article of furniture as recited in claim 4 wherein the frame members comprise tubular members disposed in separated relationship and resisting movement together.

6. An article of furniture as recited in claim 4 wherein the enlargements formed in the ends of the flexible upholstery material to be secured to the frame members comprise loops formed in the ends of the material and rods dimensioned to be insertable in said loops.

7. An article of furniture comprising opposed frame members having a plurality of external longitudinal indentations in the outer sides thereof, strips of flexible material extending between said frame members and laterally spaced to correspond with the indentations therein, said strips having enlargements formed in the ends thereof to be secured to said frame members, whereby the enlarged ends are disposed within the indentations of the frame members and the strips wrapped at least a full turn around the members so that the wraps capture the enlargements and hold them within the indentations.

8. An article of furniture as recited in claim 7 wherein the enlargements in the ends of the strips of flexible material to be secured to the frame members comprise beads formed by folding the ends of the strips upon themselves and suitably securing them thereon.

9. In a furniture structure, a combination comprising, a framework including elongated members normally disposed in separated relationship and resisting movement together, said members having external longitudinal indentations in the outer sides thereof, flexible upholstery material extending between the frame members and having enlargements formed in the ends of the material to be secured to said frame members, said enlarged ends being disposed within the indentations of the members and the material being wrapped at least a full turn around the members so that the wraps capture the enlargements and hold them within the indentations.

(References on following page) 5 6 References Cited 2,880,427 4/1959 Atwood 5-197 X 3,226,734 1/1966 Coventon 5-61 UNITED STTES PATENTS 3,273,877 9/1966 Geller et a1 267-89 1,076,728 10/1913 whltmore 160-392 X 2,069,300 2/1937 Carlson 5 CASMIR A. NUNBERG, Primary Examiner. 2,878,861 3/1959 Molla 297-452X UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,399,926 September 3, 1968 Bruce A. Hehn It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2, line 34, "bracket" should read backrest Signed and sealed this 3rd day of February 1970.

(SEAL) Attest:

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

